Magic: The Gathering is set to welcome Avatar Aang and his friends into its lands on November 21. Avatar: The Last Airbender is being adapted into the tabletop card game as part of the Universes Beyond sets. This means players can look forward to collecting hundreds of cards showcasing their favorite characters, places, and moments from the hit TV show. Not every card has been revealed just yet, but what's already been shown off by Wizards of the Coast makes it clear that the Avatar sets are yet another testament to the care Magic: The Gathering takes to the crossovers it features. From the series' unique creatures to Sokka's Cactus Juice, everything fans love about Avatar is captured on a card.
Naturally, this means the bending arts the Avatar franchise is known for are part of this Universes Beyond expansion. In fact, it's even been made into its own mechanic where players can waterbend, earthbend, firebend, and airbend for specific effects. Some are standard Magic: The Gathering card effects, while other cards, like Earthbending Lesson, introduce new dynamics, like turning lands into attacking creatures. Just like the other Universes Beyond sets before it, these mechanics are part of what makes the wait for these new cards all the more exciting, but these keywords won't be around for long.
When Magic: The Gathering Fans Enjoyed Bending the Most, the Mechanics Vanished
Avatar: The Last Airbender's Titular Art Fits Right at Home in Magic: The Gathering
Like the aforementioned Earthbending Lesson card, other cards in the set have interesting effects. Waterbending as a mechanic can use creatures and artifacts to help pay for its cost, representing how water can be found almost everywhere. Airbending tends to deal with exiling permanents, suiting how Aang was sealed away in an iceberg. Even Aang's Avatar State has a powerful card representing it that makes a former Commander Format favorite a bit outdated. In the end, though, these keywords are likely going to only be used in this one set and then never again.
While Universes Beyond is known for introducing unique crossover Magic: The Gathering card adaptations, it's not exactly known for retreading what's introduced in future sets. One example is the Secret Council ability word was introduced in the Lord of the Rings set to only appear in Murders at Karlov Manor and the Doctor Who UB set after the fact. Even then, "secret council" as a phrase isn't anywhere near as iconic, memorable, and protected as the elemental bending in Avatar is. Reusing the bending keywords outside the Avatar collaboration is largely out of the question.
Some UB sets work around this by retooling and using staple Magic: The Gathering mechanics rather than creating new keywords, like the Final Fantasy set did overall.
The Avatar: The Last Airbender MTG Cards Have Incredible Staying Power, Mechanics or No
While it's unlikely that Magic: The Gathering will see a return of the bending cards after the last Universes Beyond set of 2025 releases, there's still a point to adapting these abilities into the game for the sole reason UB exists in the first place. These collaborations serve to bring Avatar: The Last Airbender fans to Magic: The Gathering and vice versa above all else. Fans who want to play with these cards will likely take advantage of MTG's formats and creative deckbuilding mechanics to stick with libraries using Aang and his companions for a long time.
There is potential for the bending keywords returning to Magic: The Gathering in the future if Nickelodeon and Wizards of the Coast decide to do another UB or Secret Lair set dealing with Korra or Pavi.
Even though the bending keywords might not stick around in MTG forever, many of the Avatar: The Last Airbender keyword effects don't require other bending cards to synergize. They can be combined and played with standard Magic cards or even other Universe Beyond sets without much trouble, so where there is a will to play with Last Airbender cards long after the expansion is released, there will be a way. Fans of both franchises can't exactly ask for much more than that, even if the more intriguing mechanics might take a while to resurface in other, less-copyrighted expansions.
Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
- August 5, 1993
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- Richard Garfield
- Player Count
- 2+
- Age Recommendation
- 13+